Sunday, March 11, 2012

I wish I covered the ugly, old door with a brighter color, but I didn't have time! I'm planning to keep it up for March and April. In April I will change the pots of gold to raindrops (April Showers)...

Sunday, March 4, 2012

I love St. Patrick's Day (even though I'm not an ounce Irish!). To kick off our lucky month we did an inferencing lesson where the kids had to describe something greeen. First we charted anything we could think of that was green. We got so many great answers this year from animals (frogs and turtles) to characters (Shrek, Hulk). The list went on and on! Then each kid picked one "green item" from the list to keep as a secret. Then they wrote 3 clues about their object and wrote it on this kind of flippy shamrock cut out with the answer inside. Afterwards the kids read their clues to each other and then made guesses. They LOVED that part! Now they are hanging in the hallway for others to guess...

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Every year I do work stations/centers differently. One year I had about 10 stations and the children had tons of work to be handed in (TONS of work for me too!) Another year I had about 8 stations and I rotated them with a timer.I was concerned because they just didn’t seem as engaged as I wanted them to be. After reading the Daily 5 over the summer I decided to try it out, hoping the students would be more on task. Sure enough... it worked! I love the daily 5 and it has made my life so much easier. And the kiddos are busier and always doing something related to literacy. One of my favorite daily 5 station is my Read to Someone Station. The way the "sisters" explain how to implement it has been great! That station went from being avoided each year, to being my absolute favorite. They even get to read to someone when they finish their work early.

This is how I rotate my stations this year:

I also make a 2nd copy of the posters and keep them at each station for the kids to refer to (see below)...

You can also download the posters for free at TPT. I printed them out, glued each one to a different colored construction paper and had it laminated. Then the students rotate their names using clothespins. I hope you enjoy!!

About Me

I'm a mom and a teacher. I have taught 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. I have to say that after teaching all of those grades- my heart is in first. I love getting ideas from other bloggers and hope my ideas are as helpful!